THE COSTCO FAMILY is profoundly
saddened by the unexpected passing on
August ; of Je; Brotman, Costco’s chairman of the board and a co-founder of
the company.

Mr. Brotman’s impact on Costco cannot be overstated: The company simply
wouldn’t exist today without his initiative
and e;orts.

Mr. Brotman, who was ;;, was born
in Tacoma, Washington, into a family of
retailers. He earned his undergraduate
and law degrees from the University
of Washington, and after practicing
law for a brief time, he started and ran
several retail clothing businesses. In
the early ;;;;s, Mr. Brotman began
working with Jim Sinegal on plans for a
new business that came to be known as
Costco Wholesale.

Mr. Brotman was Costco’s chairman
of the board from the company’s inception until October ;;;;, then vice chairman until December ;;;;, and chairman
since then. He was a director of Costco
from the company’s beginnings. He was
an integral part of Costco throughout its
entire history. Even in recent years, in
addition to his duties as chairman,
Mr. Brotman remained very involved in
the company’s day-to-day global real
estate e;orts.

In addition to his leadership roleat Costco, Mr. Brotman served on theboards of numerous companies, includ-ing Starbucks and Seafirst Bank; wasinvolved in many other business ven-tures; and in ;;;;, served as chair of theannual campaign for United Way of KingCounty. He was deeply involved with theUniversity of Washington and servedproudly for many years on the UW Boardof Regents. It was during his time asa UW regent that Mr. Brotman, withMr. Sinegal, started the Costco Scholar-ship Fund, which has raised millions ofdollars for scholarships for underrepre-sented minority students at theUniversity of Washington and SeattleUniversity. Mr. Brotman and his wife,Susan, were involved in countless otherways in their community. Their collectiveimpact has been profound and extremelybroad-ranging.

Mr. Brotman was an amazing entrepreneur and businessman, a tremendous
leader, a generous philanthropist and a
very good friend to many at Costco and
in the community. His legacy is enormous and will be long-lasting. We will
greatly miss him.

He is survived by his wife, Susan;

his children, Amanda and Justin; his
brother, Michel; his grandsons, Leo and
Simon; and numerous other family
members.